Angel

THE ANGEL ARC

Shifting over to Angel, season four offered the audience a complex arc which provided a wealth of amazing story elements including the return of the rogue slayer, Faith [Eliza Dushku]. David, in fact, was the writer who actually got to break Faith out of the pokey. He had the chance to write Faith before in "Choices" and was thrilled to return to her character. "I love her voice. And for whatever reason, her voice just comes to me. I hear Faith’s turns of phrases, like "It’s like riding a biker" Ð that was something that was just Faith. I could hear her saying that line so not a lot thought has to go into it." He chuckles adding, "Finding simple things like "I hate to disappoint you" -you change that to "I hate to wet the paper." She has an attitude that is fun to write, saying things that are provocative or dirty or slightly off-color. To be able to write for her and Angelus, going toe to toe Ð two characters that get to speak their minds and be all glib and funny was great to do. That’s the stuff that’s most comfortable for me to do which is why the Wes and Lilah scene was so challenging. There is no challenge in writing Faith for me. I know exactly how to write her. And that’s why I’m very disappointed there is no Faith show."

The Wes and Lilah in "Salvage" was one of David’s biggest challenges.

Season four has been, by far, the most ambitious ever in terms of a seasonal long arc that requires the audience to stay with it until the end for the final payoff. Fury says, "It’s been like 24." Despite his consulting title, David was deeply involved in creating the arc. "The first script I wrote this season was three ["The House Always Wins"] set in Vegas which may have been the last standalone. I was pretty much involved with the breaking of the next couple stories through episode ten ["Awakening"] which I wrote with Steve and then into "Salvage." But after that point, I got pulled back into Buffy again." Bouncing from show to show was no easy task for him because of the deep arcs and continuity issues. David explains, "The Angel arc went off in its own way so coming back to write twenty one ["Peace Out"] was very difficult. I kind of lost my way. And in the same way when I was working on Angel and I came to write Buffy eleven ["Showtime"], I was completely lost. I was coming into it late in the game and I really didn’t know the arc. You don’t even realize how much you are living with the arc when you are on the staff. You may think you only need to know what is in your episode but in fact you’ve talked about things that are going to go on in the next several shows. It’s been very tricky switching gears back and forth and it’s worked best when I’ve been able to focus on one show. I’m not a multi-tasker like Joss."

"Home" signifies the beginning of Angel v. 2.0

As for the overall success of the ambitious experiment on Angel, David is very pleased, especially with the climax episodes. "I think Steve’s episode "Inside Out" is tremendous. Ben Edlund’s episode "Sacrifice" is great. Tim did the finale." David then laughs, "I have a feeling my episode ["Peace Out"] is going to feel like a placeholder but who knows it might wind up being great or really good. It’s climaxing the part of the arc I haven’t been involved in so it’s weird. It’s tricky working on two shows at the same time."

Since we spoke, Angel was renewed but the final show of the season, "Home," left fans with a decidedly different path for the show to proceed - Angel Investigations now runs Wolfram and Hart. David muses, "I wouldn’t say it’s a complete reworking. Unfortunately, the idea was to sell the network on their own show. You can’t sell them on a show they’ve already been producing so you have to kind of sell them on a new paradigm - something to enliven it. It may not be broke but they feel like a little change won’t hurt. I don’t think it’s as drastic as they are saying. I just think there will be a different dynamic to it." He adds, "Most of the characters are the same plus we are talking about adding a lot of people. Some people from Buffy might be coming over. I know Sarah Michelle Gellar is going to come back to Angel for a few episodes and I know Alyson Hannigan would gladly come back for a couple episodes so she can be with her honey [Alexis Denisof]. Also, Mercedes McNabb as Harmony will be back. I enjoyed writing for her a lot on Buffy and Angel.

A LOOK AHEAD

As for David’s place in the new Angel dynamic, "Joss wants me to come over and help Jeff Bell run the show. Right now, I’m a consultant and then I’d be senior staff." And indeed, it was announced in May, that David has be picked up full time as a Co-Executive Producer on Angel for the fifth season.

Evaluating the competition was something David spent some time reseaching when he wasn’t sure what his permanent plans would be. "There are a few shows I like but I don’t think they have any openings. Howard Gordon is a friend of mine at 24 and he’d love to have me over there but there aren’t any openings." On a positive note for the future, he reveals, "Tim [Minear] and I are going to develop something and hopefully, whatever happens next year, by the year after that we’ll have a show on the air and a new mini-golf course."

As for what that specific project may be, David is also reticent about revealing. "There are kernels [of ideas] but no love for the kernels yet because it takes me awhile to get invested in anything. Part of my pathology unfortunately as a writer is that it takes me a little time before I see ’it.’ I can look at it objectively, because generally speaking and this isn’t just in my writing it’s in everything, I don’t like it." He laughs, "I never like what I am doing. I’m not one of those people who can do a shot that everyone’s going ’What a great shot!’ I’m always going ’Yeah, yeah, it was fine.’ So, I’ll have ideas that I go ’Yeah, yeah, that would make a good show.’ That’s me being enthusiastic. ’Yeah, that would work. What do you think Tim, you think that would work?’ Tim goes "I think it’s great!" My answer, ’Yeah, maybe.’"

" I am my own harshest critic and it drives everyone crazy..." Honestly, David offers, "I am my own harshest critic and it drives everyone crazy but I can’t seem to let go of that. The best thing I can say about something that I really like when it’s a script is when I can read it more than once. Or if it’s an episode I’ve directed, I can watch it more than once. That says I liked it. Yeah, that’s a big deal. As opposed to Tim and Joss who I envy tremendously in the fact that they have total confidence and total enthusiasm for what they do. They can look at their own dailies over, over and over again going "God, I love that shot! I love what I shot there!" And I just go ’God, I wish I could do that.’"

David also adds that he and his wife and former writing partner, Elin, still do collaborate together. The projects are "not on anything Buffy or Angel related because to be perfectly frank, it never fell into the realm of what she likes to do or what she feels she is good at. She has been more focused in the sitcom area. She has been writing some pilots for Patricia Heaton ["Everybody Loves Raymond"]. We always talk about doing a movie together and now, that Buffy is over, there is always that possibility of trying to write together." Although he adds with a laugh, "It was good for our marriage that we stopped writing together so that will have to be a decision we cross."

The Furys also have a busy family life, including a daughter and identical twin sons that are six. And yes, they are quite aware of what Mommy and Daddy do for a living. "My daughter will be turning nine and she considers Sarah her best friend. She has been on set twice and each time Sarah has been very nice to her so she says, "Sarah’s my best friend!"

David is looking forward to the summer down time so he can catch up with his life. Some personal "Fury-time" includes "being really bad at golf, real golf not the office golf just because it’s a nice walk in the park." More importantly he adds, "I love playing with my kids. They are my passion and they are great. I’m usually out with them and a soccer ball." Otherwise, "I’d love to get back to seeing more movies. This time of year, I haven’t seen movies in months."

Fury’s W&H flunkie cameo in "Reprise"

As for that other passion that fuels him - the frustrated actor in David is also looking into the future. "Well, we are always joking about my character on Angel that Tim cast me in. That character was a low, low, low-level flunky for Wolfram & Hart. He’s this guy who whenever there is some low-level job, he’s the guy that gets called and he always winds up getting beat up. There’s been a lot of talk about actually seeing him again and that appeals to me. That appeals to me especially in light of some of the thoughts we are thinking for next season."

With Buffy finished and now just a part of television history and his future at Angel still being fleshed out, David can’t help but reflect on the path he’s taken to where he is now. The idea of moving out of the Whedon-world is, in his words "very scary" but he is completely appreciative that this phase of his career has been a special one. Looking ahead, he speculates, "All I can think of to do is create my own show and make my own environment. That’s what we all talk about, all of us that are mourning the loss of this home that we have had for the last six or seven years. We were all talking about creating our own shows and running them the same exact way Joss ran this one and have the same fun. I’m hoping that happens and I find it elsewhere. Tim and I have talked about developing something together and I know that will be a great place to work when and if that happens." Finally, he adds in a voice both wistful yet optimistic, "One can hope. I’m still always going to remember this and I’m not going to leave this without realizing this may be it. This may be the last opportunity I ever have to have this kind of freedom."